American Idol Tour Update: Toronto Canceled, Pittburgh may be moved up (Portland ME may be canceled too)

The Live nation website lists the Toronto show scheduled for September 9, as “canceled”.

A fan reports that she talked to Aaron Kelly’s mom before the show, who said that the Toronto and Buffalo shows were canceled for sure, and the Pittsburgh show moved up. ETA: Aaron’s mom said that Portland ME was also canceled. However, Portland ME tickets are still available for sale.

As we previously reported, Cleveland has been officially canceled, per Idol Chatter. The the Buffalo, Kansas City and Omaha shows are still listed at Ticketmaster, but they come up as “no longer available” if you try to buy tickets.

Lee DeWyze announced via twitter that his hometown Chicago show has been moved up from 8/30 to 8/28. On Friday, it was announced that the concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut was moved from September 13 to July 9..

Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted.I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!

I haven’t been following this tour, at all. Is it that bad? Sales, I mean. I assume the Idols are doing a good job.

itsalleternal

How many more dates will be canceled I wonder? Will the entire tour be suspended early?

chessguy99

The promoter is just covering his investment. After seeing the reviews of the Grand Rapids concert; what has been described as around a “5,000” house, the show couldn’t have come near to breaking even. I think they will be very heavy handed in trimming the last half of the tour. Any escape clause they can use to get out of a venue, will be taken. Its entirely possible the tour will be over by the end of August.

I haven’t looked at the tour schedule lately but when are they here in Toledo? The reason I’m asking is because they are supposed to be at the Huntington Center and if I remember correctly, that has a capacity of around 8,000 or so. I highly doubt they are gonna even come close to filling that up. Now, if they were at the Stranahan then I could possibly see it because it’s smaller.

Tess

We can all put the blame on last season’s lackluster American Idol on the judges, and the lack of Paula, and on poor mentors, and the “age” of Idol, etc. etc. but the fact is that none of that stuff relates to the tour…and the tour seems to be running without oxygen..even the massive $20 campaign hasn’t been able to save it so far.

Somebody, somewhere needs to come to the realization that three years in a row of WGWG may be a bit over-redundant, that “sing in the shower contestants” are not what the “paying peeps” are looking for, and that personality and charisma are really, really essential to getting people to pony up and come to a concert.

And I know that people will say that touring is down everywhere…but when a tour can’t even sell seats at wholescale markdowns it does say something about the artists.

Maybe AI will get an early clue and really look for people with the “it” factor as the auditions begin. A bunch of WGWG will really bring the show to its knees.

karenc

It looks like to me that they are trying to end the tour a couple of weeks sooner than they had planned the way they are changing dates.

Kirsten

Hamilton, Toronto and Buffalo are quite close together. I wonder if that played a part?

Is there any pattern to what is going on here? It seems like they are pulling the tour in.

Cancelled or moved Concerts:
August 26: Omaha (cancelled?)
August 27: Kansas City (cancelled?)
August 30th: Chicago (moved to August 28th)
September 9th: Toronto (cancelled)
September 10th: Buffalo (canclled?)
September 11th: Cleveland (cancelled)
September 13th: Bridgeport (moved to July 9th)
September 16th: Pittsburgh (moved)

Other End Dates:
August 29th: Minneapolis
September 4th: Indianapolis
September 7th: Winnipeg

Every concert from the 9th onward has been cancelled or moved.

Joyed

I wonder if using AEG would have improved the situation instead of Live Nation as a promoter? Live Nation has been doing a really poor job with many concerts this summer and it sounded like Live Nation had picked several concert locations that did not make sense to use for this group.

Maybe AI will get an early clue and really look for people with the “it” factor as the auditions begin. A bunch of WGWG will really bring the show to its knees.

Personality and charisma and “WGWG” are not mutually exclusive. Also, I think S9 has some very fine musical talent – they were just not great TV stars and that combined with a bad touring season is why the concerts have been in trouble, IMO.

I’ve enjoyed watching youtubes of the concert from these contestants and I hope they soak in all the positives of this experience and ignore the things beyond their control.

itsalleternal

This will send a shiver down the spine of TPTB, but Alex Nester (who was cut in Hollywood week!!!) opened for big name acts like Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire and the Stylistics back on March 27 – which sold out a 16,000 seat venue. She will likely have performed for a crowd much larger than the Idol tour will ever get. Goes to show how badly TPTB dropped the ball this year!

karenc

I kind of wouldn’t be surprised if the Bridgeport show is cancelled. I just checked for tickets, and they still have the front sections available. Unless they sell a lot of tickets before then.

wjmtv

I hope all of Crystal’s fans in Cleveland can get to Toledo.

Joyed:

Personality and charisma and “WGWG” are not mutually exclusive.

I couldn’t agree more.

Joyed

That same girl who says she spoke with Aaron’s mom added:

not sure if u know already but the portland maine one is also cancelled according to ms.kelly. So the tour will probs end in aug.

chessguy99

I doubt they would cancel a concert that is considered an Idol’s hometown concert. One of the reasons they cancelled Cleavland was the Toledo show siphoning off potential ticket buyers from northwestern Ohio. Also, they have yet to cancel a show that wasn’t within comfortable driving distance to another show. That appears to be the main problem with some of the ticket sales, the venues are drawing from a much smaller pool of buyers due to the promoter stuffing to many shows into overlapping markets.

cookcricket

*sigh*

http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

Reminder:

This thread is about the Season 9 tour. Let’s keep it on topic. Thanks.

fadetowhite

Funny that: how two years when WGWG won the show (seasons 7 and 8)have been two of the hightest selling and most profitable years…of course season 5 was the king of the Idol tour years.

It is certainly true that those two seasons had a greater blend of styles and personalities and more likable ‘casts’, but I don’t think that the paltry state of the current tour sales can be blamed on 3 WGWG winning in a row, when it certainly didn’t effect Cook or Allen’s years.

Now Lee – just ain’t great, IMO. I know he has his fans and supporters, but I’ve seen some of his footage from the tour and there’s still just nothing there.

I think it’s the lack of spark in the entire cast and season (judges/song choices/ everything lacked energy and charisma) that’s to blame. Nobody got invested in anyone and it’s resulted in one huge collective shrug.

I just don’t see how that retrospectively reflects back on Allen and Cook, both of whom did great on the Idol tour and then great on their own solo tours.

Personally, I find it perplexing why people are so fixated on that idea.

ETA: sorry MJ, read your comment afterwards. So, to reiterate the on-topic point of the post. I just don’t think season 9 connected with the audience, for many different reasons that are unique to it.

phil25

I agree with chessguy about the Ohio shows and the Toronto/Buffalo shows. It was too many shows in overlapping markets. There’s never a show in Toledo, which should have just taken the place of the Cleveland show, and there are never three shows in the Buffalo/Hamilton/Toronto area.

The Omaha and K.C. shows are in smaller markets, so it doesn’t surprise me that they were among the weakest selling venues.

http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

Let’s not turn this into a veiled fan war please. Let’s stay on topic.

houstonrufus23

Wow, well, I feel bad for the S9 crew. It’s a rough summer for tours in general. I wonder how this impacts what they get paid?

LeeTravers

Don’t think this debacle is a surprise to most people.

Marie Ruffin

Does the cancellation cut into the money they make? I think they get paid per show, right?

Kitwana

I still don’t understand why they don’t start giving some tickets away for free and offer “incentives” for people to attend. With attendance down in major league baseball parks, clubs regularly give away ballcaps, bats, bobbleheads, free hotdogs and sometimes even cash to a lucky few. There is no shame in doing this. They could offer free autographed photos of Lee and Crystal or some free digital downloads of the Top 10’s songs.

ggdoorsfan

oy vey – what’s next for this year’s tour? they’ve tried everything to drum up business – fire sale priced tickets, 2 for 1’s… they’re cutting their losses for sure, but also cutting a lot of the heart and credibility out of the idol brand along with these cancellations. we know everybody out there is struggling to put butts in seats this concert season, but the very nature of idol, the level of emotional investment it breeds in its audience is unique, and i thought would have been somewhat of a hedge against poor sales. evidently, these sales have been worse than merely poor, because when the might and money of 19e has to resort to taking these kind of drastic measures, in such a public way, there is something very wrong going on in the big house. traditional fan enthusiasm to see the tour i really thought could override any difficulties the show had… that’s not the case, and i don’t see anyone coming out looking good in this whole debacle.

Truthiness

Well I feel badly for the Idols, but the hubris of TPTB amuses me. The ratings were not good this year, the economy is not good, the buzz about this season, wasn’t good, iTunes sales, weren’t good, spins of the songs, weren’t good. Surprise surprise, ticket sales not good. Really amusing.

chessguy99

They should be paid per show, with an overall minimum for the whole tour. While it might not cut into their performance paycheck, it will cut into the merchandising check they get at the end of the tour.

JudyL

I know absolutely nothing about the tour business but isn’t this constant drip, drip, drip of cancellations a bad way to handle it, even if they think cancellations have to be made. Why can’t they sit down and figure out how to best condense the rest of the season….taking into account current ticket sales, locations, etc. The top 3 are pretty seasoned performers and will suffer the least. Lee and Crystal have contracts already and I’m almost certain Casey does too. But the rest would have really benefited from the tour experience. So sad.

This top 10 is an attractive, nice, decent group….some more talented than others, just like every season. I hope this cancellation business doesn’t get them down.

Shorty

All of the previous Idol shows have been at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island – seating capacity 17,760. It sold out in minutes and they always added a second show. This year it’s at a 5,000 seat amphitheatre and there are plenty of good seats left. The show is only 2 days away.

emmuzka

This really sucks for the S9 contestants. From one point of view, they are “victims” of the poor audience turnout, as they are just honest and hard working reality show contestants wanting to make a career out of this. As individuals, they fell as victims of bad luck of ending up to this season’s show.

On the other hand, the top 10 *is* what is the problem in the tour. (and the overly confident venue sizes of course didn’t help any.) They simply failed to create enough buzz and fan following to last the transition from television show to concert tickets. If there are future Jennifer Hudsons and Chris Daughtrys in this bunch, I’m not seeing it, and neither is the concert going audience.

I’m just hoping that the lackluster sales won’t effect Crystal’s and Lee’s record companies’ willingness to invest in their promo, or the general number of contestants that end up with a record contract.

http://justalittlespace.blogspot.com ClaireC

I was not a fan this season, but I do feel badly for these kids. I think this may snowball downhill for them rather quickly. I remember last year I went to one of the early shows – first week I think. I wrote a review that was posted here and several people commented that they went and bought tickets after hearing what a great time I and the other posters had. I think the exact opposite may happen now.

There’s a whole section of fans who wait for the initial reactions before buying. When people outside of fandom hear that a show has been cancelled, they don’t think “oh I bet they booked too many shows close together when planning the tour” they think “oh it got canceled, must mean the show sucks.” Unfair, sure, but common.

I’ve already seen people on Twitter saying “is anyone going to ___ show, assuming it’s not canceled” I know of at least one group that had tickets to Toronto who would have gone to Hamilton, but that concert is tonight and they couldn’t get off work in time. This was not my favorite season, but I feel bad for anyone who is made to feel like they’re on a sinking ship. I’m not saying that has happened yet, but I think it might be starting to happen. How long til New York? They need a great Slezak or Cantiello review to help remind people that these kids beat out THOUSANDS of others to get here.

Suzanne

I also feel for the S9 idols. The logical conclusion is that the lackluster ticket sales are their fault. Does anyone know if the hometown venues have sold out? Chicago, Toledo, Dallas? The economy and locations of some shows (Toledo/Cleveland) play a part, but interest in this group of Idols must be part of it too. I mean, there were two arena shows in Kc and Salt Lake City two years ago and the markets weren’t exhausted by the first show; the second shows sold.

I don’t think that it’s Lee’s job to bring in the audience, but I do think that other winners and runners up have been able to do it.

Do you think that the tour organizers had access to the vote totals on the show? For instance, if they knew that half as many votes were cast this year as last, then they are dopes to schedule as many tour dates as last year. The voting should have shown the level of interest in attending a concert.

OvenMitt

Wow, this is really depressing. I feel like I’m in the minority when I say that I really like this group of Idols, and am looking forward to seeing the concert. Well, actually, lemme rephrase that: I WAS excited,now I’m terrified that my concert will be axed! I am really surprised that the Idol PTB didn’t plan better for this. In fact, I recall when the tour dates we initially announced, people were remarking about how ambitious the number and size of arenas booked were, especially around the top 2’s hometowns (and that was before we “knew” who had won). Now we can see that it was grossly ambitious. Even more damaging was, I think, starting the tour in one of the most economically depressed regions of the country. I don’t know what to make of it honestly, but it certainly is a sad state of affairs. I hope the bleeding stops soon so these kids can get a fair shake and not have their talent and hard work blighted by the errors of the bigwigs who have miscalculated and mishandled this situation.

BestAI

I think Adam said it as tactfully as he could about this group: “They need more coffee.” He did say they were very talented and very nice, but they needed more energy.

Why didn’t the show’s director amp up this summer tour. He is partially responsible for the lackluster performances. Let Mike be theatrical, let Tim slide on the floor, let Siobhan be OTT, let Katie show some attitude. I don’t know if the rest of them have the capabilities of putting on a show, other than just sitting/standing there singing and playing the guitar.

Q3

I don’t think that it’s Lee’s job to bring in the audience, but I do think that other winners and runners up have been able to do it.

I actually think that it is Lee’s job [and the rest of the top 10] to bring in the audience. They are getting well paid for this tour and part of what they get paid for is to promote the show, bring in an audience and then entertain them.

Do you think that the tour organizers had access to the vote totals on the show? For instance, if they knew that half as many votes were cast this year as last, then they are dopes to schedule as many tour dates as last year. The voting should have shown the level of interest in attending a concert.

I think that “TPTB are dopes” and blew it is the best explanation so far.

We all know the ratings were down and that voting was way down. The promoters had to know. But I think 19 and LiveNation must have been in denial on this one. I think they thought that just like every year Idol fans would show up for the tour. La la la la…..
But there is a lot of direct competition for Idol fan tour dollars…

Carrie and Daughtry are touring. Cook was touring for over a year. Jordin, Adam, Kris, Clay and Ruben, etc. are touring. There are 8 years of Idol alums out there now and many are touring or performing somewhere.

And after 9 years maybe the Idols Live Tour needed something new. This show is essentially the same show with new Idols and new songs. The lack of interest could be about more than just the performers. Maybe the whole thing is just played out.

anovich

They are trying everything they can to drum up interest in the tour this year. The other night I was watching TV (not Fox) and they had a commerical with Kara DioGuardi (since she’s connected to NY) trying to promote the concert that is 2 days away. This year there’s only 1 concert on Long Island at a smaller venue then years past and one later in the summer in NJ. last year there were 2 concerts on Long Island and 2 in NJ that were all well attended (though people were always looking for better tickets when we had to sell our Nassau Coliseum tickets last minute because I was sick and my husband was only going because of me).

I feel bad for the kids who were hoping to use the tour to try and help them gain interest to further their careers. I think aside from the Top 2, who already have deals in place, Aaron seems to be generating the positive reviews so far which is great for him since it’s been so positive out of the gate despite all the rest of the issues surrounding the tour.

HotHotHot

I’m sorry, but these contestants are the problem. Few of them, even the winner rarely made it through even one song on key.

LeeTravers

S9 has moderately talented people – but even with moderate talent, if you have a scintillating personality, you can engender some excitement. This year there’s just no real gotta-see-this-person excitement for too many fans.

karenc

Personality and charisma and “WGWG” are not mutually exclusive. Also, I think S9 has some very fine musical talent – they were just not great TV stars and that combined with a bad touring season is why the concerts have been in trouble, IMO.

I definately agree with this, and I think that David Cook is a good example of WGWG that has personality and charisma in addition to musical talent. I think it’s that combination that really makes someone a star on the show. It just didn’t happen this year. And it’s not that I didn’t like some people on the show, which I do.

Q3

I’m just hoping that the lackluster sales won’t effect Crystal’s and Lee’s record companies’ willingness to invest in their promo, or the general number of contestants that end up with a record contract.

As I understand it, for Lee and Crystal there is a minimum investment level on the first album. And with all major labels, going beyond that requires results — monetary results — sales.

If you add lackluster concert ticket sales to lackluster music sales to an inability to handle promotional press opportunities very well, I think it has to effect the promotional planning.

But just maybe it will have a good outcome when it comes to Lee and Crystal’s albums.

1. Since RCA and Jive know that they can’t depend on hype to sell a ton of albums, the labels/19 might actually work hard to put out quality albums. [Lemonade is my favorite drink.]

2. With fewer concert dates and less press then past Idol top finishers have has to deal with, Lee and Crystal will have more time to focus on their music.

3. Since expectations for Lee and Crystal are somewhat moderate, if either sell 500,000 albums it will be considered a huge success. The bar is very low.

Eriko

Wow, this is really depressing. I feel like I’m in the minority when I say that I really like this group of Idols, and am looking forward to seeing the concert.

For some reason, people who are negative about something are louder and have a stronger need to voice their opinion, so you may belong to a silent majority :) Just look at the very positive recap posted in a thread before this one, but the responses are double for this thread

Kirsten

Does anyone know if the hometown venues have sold out? Chicago, Toledo, Dallas?

I haven’t heard of any venues selling out.

In Dallas, you can get 8 tickets in section 11 (floor, front-center section), in Chicago, you can get 8 tickets in Section 112 (lower bowl, second section on the left), and in Toldedo, you can get 8 tickets in Section F3 (floor, front-right). Not a perfect methodology, but that would seem to indicate that they are nowhere close to a sell-out.

Do you think that the tour organizers had access to the vote totals on the show? For instance, if they knew that half as many votes were cast this year as last, then they are dopes to schedule as many tour dates as last year. The voting should have shown the level of interest in attending a concert.

I think part of the problem is that it takes a long time to schedule these types of tours. They may not have realized how bad it was going to be until everything was already booked. And they might have crossed their fingers and hoped.

Funny that: how two years when WGWG won the show (seasons 7 and 8)have been two of the hightest selling and most profitable years…of course season 5 was the king of the Idol tour years.

Yes, this is where I have trouble with the reason of Idol tour burn-out being put forward as one of the reasons for the decline in sales. We’ve seen a steady erosion of television ratings which do demonstrate burn-out, but the tour seems to follow it’s own path. If we’d seen the same erosion of tour attendance, I would say it was Idol burn-out. But S8 had the second best attended tour and S7 was nipping at its heels at third. Season 9 appears to have just fallen off a cliff.

The promoter is just covering his investment. After seeing the reviews of the Grand Rapids concert; what has been described as around a “5,000? house, the show couldn’t have come near to breaking even.

The size of the Van Andel Arena was listed as 10,373 last year and 10,225 in S7 (where 9,622 and 7,689 were sold respectively). They sold-out in Season 5 (and it was over 11K) and Season 3 sold 5,484.

BigNLiddle

You can get sixth row, center on ticketmaster still for the mansfield show too

larc

Since expectations for Lee and Crystal are somewhat moderate, if either sell 500,000 albums it will be considered a huge success.

Either of them selling 500K albums would be much more than a huge success. It would be a miracle!

Mtlfan

i’m sorry for those kids. there are some talents there nevertleless. If there was a stop in my city and the ticket was $20, I would go

aidancash

Everything comes to and end sooner or later especially a tv show. Idol has just run its course. And when people are struggling to put food on the table worse then any of the other years you can see why this is happening. Its not that big of a suprise and it shows how bad the promoter was in scheduling venues and shows. Too many shows are too close together geographiclly.

Crystal and Lee are really going to have to work there buts off after idol to become very successful. If Caseys contract comes to happen like I think it will in the next few weeks he has less expectations bu I think he can break away from idol and gain new fans and will outsell both Crystal and Lee.

anovich

karenc:
07/05/2010 at 5:02 pm
Personality and charisma and “WGWG” are not mutually exclusive. Also, I think S9 has some very fine musical talent – they were just not great TV stars and that combined with a bad touring season is why the concerts have been in trouble, IMO.

I definately agree with this, and I think that David Cook is a good example of WGWG that has personality and charisma in addition to musical talent. I think it’s that combination that really makes someone a star on the show. It just didn’t happen this year. And it’s not that I didn’t like some people on the show, which I do.

Exactly – both Cook and Kris have charisma and personality (with Kris’s personality not really shining until later on but it’s there).

Lee leaves me with nothing; no interest and no desire to see or hear more. Obviously he has fans but I don’t think there is the same interest level as there is with the previous 2 WGWG winners that are Cook and Kris. Add to the fact that there were lots of other interesting personlities to attract people to the show in Seasons 7 & 8 (Archie, Adam, Jason Castro, Michael Johns, Matt G, Anoop, Brooke, Allison, Carly). There is no personlity that is drawing people in this year. Mike probably has the strongest personality but there is something of a disconnect between him and the audience from what I can tell (he needed the save at top 9). The promise that was Andrew never lived up to the hype. And Tim might be cute, but the talent is marginal.

AdamBigFan

Will the bad news about the tour business kill all the positive reactions for unsigned contestants of S9? Really, really passive about that. Like Carly once said, after the tour, it’s like being thrown down the bus. Lee and Crystal are pretty much employeed to the next year…I mean, tour, TV interviews after tour, singles, albums, talk shows, AI appearances, tour for albums… As to Casey, no one knows what’s going on between him and that country label. He simply needs to get that deal fixed and made public. Among others, I think Shiobhan and Tim are at least quite potential in acting and modeling. I have no ideas about the rest of others. Sign! I actually like each one’s performance of this tour.

Rub

If you have the product people will buy. People buy quality product, and you put it out there and they will come. Burnout be damned.

Competition was fierce(in my view) the season I saw the show, S8. That got me into it. Many reviews I read thought the competition was extended full court into the tour. Even professional reviewers took turns in picking apart the top 5. And so it when on, hence S8 with the second best attendance #s, along with top notch performers too – with an edge.

Im with the thought that they booked ‘em big early, without knowing the actually numbers. But it had to be done.

Eriko

Either of them selling 500K albums would be much more than a huge success. It would be a miracle!

Only 16 former AI contestants have a sold total above 500k, and with all the illegal downloads today (in the millions) 500k would imo be a huge success for almost anyone. But if you consider 500k to be a miracle, expect a miracle in Crystals case! And a Grammy

aidancash

AdamBigFan: Daughtry and Kellie Pickler were not officially signed until july 10th and JUly 17th. I am confindent it is a done deal with Casey. I wont start to get worried unless next week goes by and we hear nothing.

koshka

Truthiness:
07/05/2010 at 4:24 pm
Well I feel badly for the Idols, but the hubris of TPTB amuses me. The ratings were not good this year, the economy is not good, the buzz about this season, wasn’t good, iTunes sales, weren’t good, spins of the songs, weren’t good. Surprise surprise, ticket sales not good. Really amusing.

MTE!!

I’m just hoping that the lackluster sales won’t effect Crystal’s and Lee’s record companies’ willingness to invest in their promo, or the general number of contestants that end up with a record contract.

Its not the tour sales that are going to hurt them when it come time to pull together an album.. it is going to be all of what was stated by Truthiness. I sure hope that crystal and lee’s writing abilities are an ounce of what is touted by fans because I’m afraid they may really need to lean on their skills to get the best album possible. I really hope that TPTB at Jive and RCA don’t simply go through the motions with these 2.

Kirsten

Too many shows are too close together geographiclly.

This year, this is true. But Idol has done this for years without much of a problem. Season 5 famously started out with two concerts in Manchester followed by 2 concerts in Worcester followed by a concert in Hartford. All within driving distances of each other. All sold out. It’s typical to have concerts in Tampa and St Pete’s. Anaheim and LA and San Diego. A couple in the Bay area. Atlantic City, Uniondale, Rochester, East Rutherford and Albany too. The list goes on. The tour is a little different each year, but there are always lots of concerts that end up within driving distance of each other.

Banished

Just a complete throw away year for AI. Possibly the beginning of the end. Domino effect has begun. Simon leaves, they pick of huge bunch of zero personality kids who, mostly cannot sing in tune live. Why would anyone pay to see this? They should scrap the whole tour, and get to honoring Lee and Crystal’s contracts and hope to have an earlier album release date. It is a shame, but Idol has no one to blame but themselves for the horrid job of casting they did this year!

MaryS-NJ

I know that in previous years, when browsing tickets at Ticketmaster, you couldn’t find anything good until a day or two before the show. I have a ticket already but will buy another closer to stage if I can get floor seats – center stage in the first 10 rows.

I think the lack of buzz and the laid-back top 10 are a factor and it’s too bad because I think they are a talented group musically and could make good recording artists. Putting it in perspective, some other tours are also not selling well in a year when the summer concert tour roster is crowded. I still think it’s as much the economy as anything, and the people at Live Nation will probably blame the Idols when they should be looking at where they booked them.

JudyL

If Caseys contract comes to happen like I think it will in the next few weeks he has less expectations bu I think he can break away from idol and gain new fans and will outsell both Crystal and Lee.

I agree with this and even without that contract he went to Nashville to discuss, there is just no way that he won’t be successful. Also think that Casey and Crystal can handle all this bad news the best since they already been down the road of hard knocks. I at least hope that this is being handled with some sensitivity regarding the rest of the kids. But since I think everybody connected to Idol is a heartless bastard, I doubt it.

Jae

Unfortunately I agree with the folks who say the low tour interest has to do with lackluster contestants. If you look at s5 you had daughtry, Taylor , I think Ace, and Chris Richards,right? And Kat. All these guys had huge fan bases and everyone wanted to see them. Chris’s early boot had everyone talking. Then look at s7. The Davids (and Cook was really not the WGWacousticG deal) Jason Castro. Huge fan bases and lots of Drama during the season.. The vote for the final two strongly battled out. Then S8. Not near as strong a cast as s7 IMO but then you had this guy named Adam Lambert. Never seen anyone like him on idol. And then clever underdog Kris. Danny “wife died ” Gokey and little Allison who could really sing! And again a controversial and contested final two. Now this year: bland and likable. No one really cared who won. No one stood out. Thus you have low tour turnout. Last year and the one before didn’t have a great Economy either. Idol ratings have been slightly declining for a while but still 20 million people watched this show. This top 10 just does not inspire any passion. And who spends three hours at a concert just for the heck of it? I know I was so not attached to this group though I liked a couple of them. Once the show was over, they were off the radar.. I think that is how it was for a lot of people obviously..

bridgette12

The fact that the tour is not selling well, shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the low ratings this year. Add that to a collection of singers that have taken lackluster and bland to a new level, and you end up with a tour that’s falling apart. I never for a second thought season 9 was very talented. The boys were the worst I had ever seen and the girls who were touted as being far superior, never lived up to the judges expectations. I never thought I would see the day when Idol was forced to go to smaller arenas and cut the prices of tickets. A lot of blame can go around to quite a few people, judges, producers and the contestants themselves. Judges for picking these people, producers for not modernizing the show and the contestants for giving very blah performances week after week.

http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

This year, this is true. But Idol has done this for years without much of a problem. Season 5 famously started out with two concerts in Manchester followed by 2 concerts in Worcester followed by a concert in Hartford. All within driving distances of each other. All sold out.

There were also shows in Providence RI and Portland ME. I could go to 6 shows within a 100 mile radius of where I live.

mmb

I am shocked that there would even be a rumor re canceling the Portland Maine show. It’s a relatively small arena and the idol tour routinely sells out and relatively quickly. Daughtry recently had a sold out show there

http://www.twilightslo.com Mateja

Well, these cancellations are not a surprise. Bad economy is one thing, but the biggest problem are this season’s TOP 10. It was totally clear to me that this cast is weaker than the ones in years past. This season lacked great personalities and great vocal performances. Forget about artistry because artistry without charisma is not enough to capture interest of the masses that watch American idol.

Judges sucked, themes were mostly a rehash of season 8 themes (I liked Shania Twain theme). To be honest, I mostly looked forward to the performances of musical guests on Wednesday.

Oh, and 3 pop/rock WGWG winners in a row argument … Cook was good. Kris was very average, but at least not offensive. Lee … frequently a disaster. The sad thing this year for me was that I knew as soon as I saw Lee’s audition that he is the next American Idol. I didn’t have to hear him sing, one look was enough. I guess Idol has a type. And I really wanted someone different to win this year. I’m not saying the last three winners are musically completely the same – but in the context of the show, they are very similar. Just think: Kelly – Ruben – Fantasia – Carrie – Taylor – Jordin – David. So much variety! But from David Cook on, that variety is missing. The same old, rehashed story.

So, what can we expect from season 10? Another WGWG winner, possibly even worse than Lee?

But yeah, I feel sorry for the Idols because they always look forward to the tour.

Q3

Well — I do not really feel like blaming anyone. And luckily there is so little interest in this tour that even the canceled concerts are only making the local press and Idol blogs.

Plus Idol got a lucky break at the expense of Drake and Ke$ha because of the cancellation of the Paper magazine concerts in New York. A concert cancellation because of a riot is big news, poor ticket sales cancellations are not really news at all.

————————————————————-

Hopefully the problems with the tour will convince TPTB to do some drastic changes to Idol before the next season. I would really like the last year of Idol [which I expect AI10 to be] to be big, bold and focused on talent — not just potential. There are a ton of talented, exciting performers out there — maybe the producers should forget about the gimmicks and judges comedy acts, and get back to basics. And while they are at it, perhaps they could limit the use of instruments.

Margaux

There were also shows in Providence RI and Portland ME. I could go to 6 shows within a 100 mile radius of where I live.

And seasons 5, 7 and 8 had fanbases devoted enough to go to all six shows! I know that fans of Kris, Adam, Danny and Matt went to multiple shows last year. I don’t hear of people going to more than one show this year.

Tess

We (as in us posters) sometimes talk about how disconnected we are with the “real world” about “our” idols…and that the real world doesn’t see things through the same eyes as we do. But apparently on this issue (Season 9) we are a mini representation of the real world.

Unless I’m not thinking straight we had a lot of interest in the tour the last few years. It seems that threads here were full of interviews and twitter comments and reviews and local news videos, etc. etc. And, unless I am missing something, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of that available for posting or discussion. We might see a review for each show, we might see half a dozen you tubes, we might see some local press interviews, we might have people popping in to post their trip to see the idols.

If I’m reading “us” right an awful lot of us just feel that Season 9 was and continues to be a bust. We seem to have a lot more interest in other seasons, other idols, in glee, in SYTYCD, in current sells of other idols and notables. And we seem to represent what is happening in the real world. And what I find sad is that regardless of how bad we think Season 9 was/is we are really sad to see our friend “AI” being regarded this way. I don’t think we are happy that things are as they are..we are just being realistic.

JudyL

Hopefully the problems with the tour will convince TPTB to do some drastic changes to Idol before the next season.

Since their first major change announcement was lowering the age requirement, I have little hope for whatever other changes they make.

http://jgrollersellshomes.com juliegr

Jae — Season 5 had Taylor Hicks, Kate McPhee, ELLIOTT YAMIN (not Chris Richardson), Daughtry, Ace Young and Kellie Pickler who all had large fan bases. Just wanted to correct your memory. ;)

girlygirl

Neither Lee nor Crystal are likely to sell anywhere close to 500K. As others have said, that would be a miracle. Think closer to 250K…

TexasWannaHoldEm

And what I find sad is that regardless of how bad we think Season 9 was/is we are really sad to see our friend “AI” being regarded this way. I don’t think we are happy that things are as they are..we are just being realistic.

*** dabs at eyes *** This ^^^^^^^ ! Although I have to admit that I couldn’t get into AI this year (except a little bit for Casey – I really think he might be the only success story from this season), I was secretly looking forward to all the fun fans from this season would have here at MJ’s. Seems that TPTB are just out of touch. Hopefully the rescheduling will result in an improved image for not only the contestants but the AI franchise as well.

ETA: RE improvements for next season – get rid of the stupid judge/Ryan schtick. Not only is it not funny, it’s downright uncomfortable.

Since Simon’s gone that should get rid of the judge/Ryan schtick. It was really weird this year. I can’t believe they lowered the age. Fifteen years old is much too young to endure all of that while trying to continue an education. I think eighteen should be the minimum. If anything they should have raised the age limit to maybe 30 or 31.

I think alot of the lackluster concert sales is due to the economy. $80 is alot of money to spend on a ticket to see your favorite sing 2 to 5 songs. And the $20 tickets were way up top. It’s not really worth going to a show if you can’t see the performers. JMO. The media didn’t help with all of their bashing of the contestants this year either.

If they canceled the Omaha and KC shows that means that the Idols will have three free days after the St. Louis show before they have to go to Chicago. Or maybe they’ll move the St. Louis show to the 27th which would work better for me since it’s on a Saturday.

JudyOhio

Seems that TPTB are just out of touch.

A good bottom line to the conversation.

And what I find sad is that regardless of how bad we think Season 9 was/is we are really sad to see our friend “AI” being regarded this way. I don’t think we are happy that things are as they are..we are just being realistic.

Tess, that is exactly how I feel. It’s sad to me to watch a show I’ve enjoyed for so many years starting to show signs of dying. I hope they can turn it around, but as TexasWannaHoldEm said….”TPTB are just out of touch.”

The top 10 this year are talented enough and they could have some success, but the actual AI show this season was lackluster. Musical chairs at the judge’s table has NOT and is NOT going to fix this, as a matter of fact (to me) that’s the thing that has been hurting this show. Give us a SHOW in FRONT of the judge’s table, not at it, create suspense, get further into the contestants in a REAL way, not some drummed up backstory. Sigh, poor AI. They need to wake up or throw in the towel.

eta: Even though the AI9 tour is having low turnout, I hope they still pay those kids well. I hope they don’t have to sacrifice earnings because of this :(

abbysee

Wow this is really messed up. I think it’s sad for Crystal and Lee because I am sure that this will follow them for a while when they are pushing their debut cds. I am wondering why tptb don’t do something imaginative to drum up sales instead of just basically throwing in the towel. They should be using the infrastructure that they already have in place to tease the concert goers with incentives along the way. Maybe a guest appearance from a former winner or runner up. Having a MC of some sort maybe a minor pop star or some up and comer, I don’t know, but they are just relying on the old way and it’s just not working.

I am not one who totally blames tptb for the top ten we wound up with. They are not the ones who sent Alex, Todrick, Lilly or even Paige home early. Certainly they are not the ones who sent Siobhan packing early. We got the top ten we voted or didn’t vote for.

Laurie

How do we know for sure that Idol did a horrid job of casting this past season? What if the ones chosen were truly the best of the bunch that showed up to audition? We can’t possibly know. There is no guarantee that every season the show will be able to produce a group of talent that will draw in the crowds to concerts or produce platinum numbers. I was no fan of this season, but it can’t all be blamed on casting, imo.

ETA: I also feel badly for this group. They are no longer in the bubble, where they were somewhat protected from the criticism of the season. Now, they have to be well aware that they are not even being well received by Idol watchers. This has to sting! Have tour dates in the past ever been canceled due to poor sales, or is this a first?

JudyOhio

Those are all good suggestions abbysee, but as it looks now, TPTB are just letting it play out with a que sera sera attitude. Sad.

http://www.myspace.com/lauraoestrella Laury

This is sad :(

anovich

How do we know for sure that Idol did a horrid job of casting this past season? What if the ones chosen were truly the best of the bunch that showed up to audition? We can’t possibly know. There is no guarantee that every season the show will be able to produce a group of talent that will draw in the crowds to concerts or produce platinum numbers. I was no fan of this season, but it can’t all be blamed on casting, imo.

From what we know there were better people there then what we got – they got rid of Angela Martin at the final judgement and instead gave us Haeley Vaughn? As much as I’m not a fan, Michael Castro was likely better then a lot of the other guys. There was another guy named Jermaine (not the one we got) that was pretty good. Alex Nester was cut early and was the opener for a huge Earth, Wind & Fire concert – why were all of these people cut and instead we got some of the less talented people we have analyzed to death here.

aidancash

I dont feel bad for them. They are playing in front of thousands of people making a lot of dough for few months. The top 2 have record deals and Casey will probably announced soon. Nooone else was really going to get offered a deal by 19 anyway.

I am sure these kids are ready for this to just be over so they can start their careers. Especially the top 3.

Kitwana

When David Archuleta sang Heaven during Hollywood, Simon Cowell gave a comment that I think those casting future seasons of Idol MUST follow if they want to avoid the lack of interest in the contestants that happened this year. He said that David is 1. Young, 2. Goodlooking, 3. Likeable, and 4. With a really good voice. Do any of Season 9’s Top 10 meet these 4 criteria? Or even 3 of them? I just think that each season needs a few contestants surviving into the Top 10 with these traits. Talent alone is not enough.

HotHotHot

For what it’s worth, I expect that the general public has no idea what is happening unless they have a cancelled ticket. Most will never know the tour sucked and shows were cancelled. I think only a small percentage of viewers actually pay any attention to the tours. I didn’t care about any AI tour until Adam. This mess is apparently not even getting mentioned in the general press, so I doubt it will make a difference to most of the TV viewing audience. They won’t even know what happened.

bridgette12

Laurie:
07/05/2010 at 7:42 pm
How do we know for sure that Idol did a horrid job of casting this past season? What if the ones chosen were truly the best of the bunch that showed up to audition? We can’t possibly know. There is no guarantee that every season the show will be able to produce a group of talent that will draw in the crowds to concerts or produce platinum numbers. I was no fan of this season, but it can’t all be blamed on casting, imo.

I for one can’t possibly believe that these ten were the best of the best. How many guitar playing wanabe singer songwriters do you need on one show? No the blame for the drudgery of season 9 and now the tour this summer, can’t all be laid on the heads of the casting. It was like a perfect storm of mistakes by the judges, producers and the contestants has led to a blah season and a failing tour.

Laurie

I think this somewhat proves that the show is only as good as the talent. Forget the judges, people have to be drawn to the contestants. They are the ones touring. I think if they quit focusing so much on the judges and stop fretting about the star power sitting at the judging table, the show can be saved. They have to refocus on getting true talent on the show, that will have mass appeal. Easier said than done, I know!

Elliegrll

If Caseys contract comes to happen like I think it will in the next few weeks he has less expectations bu I think he can break away from idol and gain new fans and will outsell both Crystal and Lee.

It will be about the music for all three of them, just like it’s about the music for every single artist and group that’s just starting out in the business. This same statement was posted over and over again last year about Kris, Adam, Allison and Danny, but the expectations are the same for everyone, and everyone has to do the same thing, which is put out music that appeals to a wide audience, and not just AI fans.

That’s why I’m not worried about Kris, Crystal, Lee, Allison, and even Adam, who don’t have as large of an AI fan base as previous former contestants did. While having those AI fans is nice, the main goal is to gain fans based on the music, not because these people appeared on AI.

aidancash

I think it is sad that the contestants seem to be getting all the blame here. We are in such a bad economy and it is down in a different way in the past. There is way to much uncertainty and the ones who have jobs are saving there money. The show has also run its course. We will see which contestants can break out from all of this in a year or so. Also the judges didnt do any favors to the contestants by acting like a nunch of idiots this year.

LeeTravers

At this point it doesn’t matter who’s to blame – S9 is a flop.

LeeTravers

Lambert knew what was going on. These kids were sorta nice and had some talent, but personality-wise, they were dead in the water.

anovich

When David Archuleta sang Heaven during Hollywood, Simon Cowell gave a comment that I think those casting future seasons of Idol MUST follow if they want to avoid the lack of interest in the contestants that happened this year. He said that David is 1. Young, 2. Goodlooking, 3. Likeable, and 4. With a really good voice. Do any of Season 9’s Top 10 meet these 4 criteria? Or even 3 of them? I just think that each season needs a few contestants surviving into the Top 10 with these traits. Talent alone is not enough.

I do think both Katie and Aaron came close but didn’t quite hit all these points. The problem was that these criteria did not equal the winner in the season Simon said it, so there’s obviously more to it then that.

aidancash makes a valid point. As quoted from Terry McBride, co-founder of Lilith Fair, “We are in the midst of one of the most challenging summer concert seasons, with many tours being cancelled outright.” This was stated on the festival’s website after having to cancel 10 more shows. These are established artists’ having trouble selling tickets, so the new kids on the block are going to have an even bigger challenge to fill seats.

LeeTravers

After S7 and S8, AI had a built-in audience. They lost them in S9.

LeeTravers

In the era of Gaga, Rihanna, and Ke$ha, the days of Lilith Fair are pretty much over.

Laurie

Rihanna is part of Lilith fair this year.

LeeTravers

Not any more.

kanab

Let’s not forget Bucky in Season 5 either. It was just the best season with so many diverse personalities and different music types. They all were so interesting and great fun to follow and seemed to enjoy each others company.

Laurie

Whatever, you’re missing the point. Stars far bigger than the ones you mentioned are having concert sales issues.

Tess

Stars far bigger than the ones you mentioned are having concert sales issues.

That may be true but many AI alums are doing OK this year. Daughtry and Carrie have had good to very good response and I don’t think either has cancelled any shows, Adam is doing well, Kris is doing good, Danny is making an impression. Outside of AI Justin Bieber has been doing super, a couple of the Disney kids are succeeding, U2 had sellouts, Pink did very well.

We have been in this recession for pretty close to three years now and this is the first time the AI tour is taking a beating. It isn’t external stuff that is killing this tour…it is mostly internal shit that has hit the fan.

HR

Ke$ha was supposed to be involved with Lillith too I believe.

itsalleternal

I agree the economy is not to blame – if it was, last year’s tour would have been a bust. It is all AI itself – this season was a total write-off.

cher

LeeTravers:
07/05/2010 at 9:14 pm
In the era of Gaga, Rihanna, and Ke$ha, the days of Lilith Fair are pretty much over.

When David Archuleta sang Heaven during Hollywood, Simon Cowell gave a comment that I think those casting future seasons of Idol MUST follow if they want to avoid the lack of interest in the contestants that happened this year. He said that David is 1. Young, 2. Goodlooking, 3. Likeable, and 4. With a really good voice. Do any of Season 9’s Top 10 meet these 4 criteria? Or even 3 of them? I just think that each season needs a few contestants surviving into the Top 10 with these traits. Talent alone is not enough.

See I don’t think that is where they went wrong. I think alot of them hit that mark. Maybe not the caliber of DA, but then not many do. And truthfully people were talking about David during his season as though he were lacking in something that would hinder his success. If anything this group might be lacking in that intangible ‘special sauce’ that Paula Abdul use to talk about. I also think that in the idolverse some things if said long and loud enough are taken as fact. The very depimping of Crystal that far into the game might have undermined the entire season. Instead of letting things play out, and Lee being the runner up, they sorta took away the competition aspect that spurs post idol interest and sales. Whereas imho the ‘surprise’ win of KA was natural and the ‘surprise’ win of Lee was not, it sorta was anticlimactic and not authentic, so it just let the air out of the season. Well at least that’s my idea and I am sticking with it, lol.

I don’t think this is the worst top 10 we’ve ever had. That was what I was trying to say when I got sidetracked. I think it’s a mixture of many things that is causing this severe downturn, and I don’t think that it’s the ratings drop so much because then why was last years drop not reflected in concert ticket sales?

BestAI

Bieber, Miley, Eminem, Sting, Jay-z are selling out.

To add to that, Bon Jovi, Gaga, Adam (smaller venue), Taylor/King… If the economy is responsible for poor concert sales, it would be across the board, and not just some. There’re probably other reasons why some concerts are not selling… talent and loss of interest maybe? I’m not talking about AI — I’m talking about other performers (JoBros anybody?).

Laurie

I don’t really care. Lol! I just wanted to say that Aidencash made a valid point, and that is why I quoted the Lilith Fair co-founder. I felt badly because he/she felt sad that the season 9 contetstants were getting all the blame.

Absolutely no desire for this group and turned it off(and stopped DVRing after Siobhan made an exit).

I think a lot of factors to blame for the lackluster ticket sales and the cancellations, one of them being that we’ve all seen this song and dance before. I do admit 3 hours is a long time for a concert when I like very few of the contestants it can seem like a tedious chore. There isn’t exactly anything really different any year except for song choices and new contestants. I do think economy has some issue, but I’m going to four concerts this summer, the next one being Tom Petty this coming up weekend. I’ve contemplated going to Lady Gaga but for a good seat(and I’d want a good seat) it was $175.00 for JUST ME without any of the extra charges. They aren’t selling out that quickly because $175.00 is insane.(although I contemplated it for a REALLY REALLY long time)

But I do think the biggest contributing factor is the contestants themselves. The problem they had this season is reflecting in concert sales; they’re one in the same and that can come off as boring. I’m sure they’re talented, I know they’re talented, but honestly with so many singer/songwriters in one set I’d have a tendency to probably nod off. (and I love me some singer/songwriter artists) I can’t say the two idol shows I’ve been at were ever high energy until about the top 3. So that’s 2 hours of people I could care less about performing for me. Maybe I’m spoiled by excellent concerts but I’m not going to pay good money(or 20 dollars which beats the 80+ I’ve paid before) to sit through people I don’t care about for the majority of the show. I’d like to see Siobhan. That’s about it. But I decided Siobhan wasn’t worth it so I’m going to see her favorite and mine Hanson twice this summer instead. :)

I feel bad for the contestants but they truly lacked the spark for me this year. All of them. Talented yes, but nothing special.

Marie Ruffin

Can someone answer the question: If they are cancelling shows, do the Idols get the same money or are they paid per show?

Having asked the above, I think it’s a combination of things effecting the cancellations of Idols and others….it’s not just one thing. It’s the recession. Peeps are still losing jobs and those that have jobs (like me) are holding on to their cash and being picky about where they spend it. So if you like Carol King and feel you’ll get more for your money, go see Carol King. In Chicago, the Ravinia Fest shows have been selling out with EWF, Carrie Underwood and even YoYo Ma. It’s about where you want to spend your money.

Next, the producers of the tour did not scout well. They booked into big venues vs. small venues and tried to uphold the same amount of cities they did in the past. Now they have to backtrack with cancellations. This is telling and should tell the producers of AI that there need to be changes (how about the judges first?)

I was reading the blogs for the Essence Festivals which was a huge success over a weekend. Maybe Lillith should do like Essence and Lollap and have one weekend festival in ONE city instead of trying to tour.

http://crystalfans.com/ Zsus

I couldn’t care less what the reasons are for poor ticket sales. American Idol makes a king’s ransom off of these kids during the season in ad revenues. Yet, they get paid squat. Their one opportunity to make it all worthwhile money-wise is during the tour. But, since they get paid per show, every show cancelled is money out of the Idols’ pockets. I don’t care if they play to 1,000 people or 8,000. IMO, TPTB owe them 50 concert dates. They owe the band and the staff that goes from city to city with them 50 concert dates. They owe the people who do the lighting the sound 50 concert dates. They can afford it.

spritely

I can only speak to one of the locales where a concert is, apparently, canceled. Here in Kansas City, I’ve been lucky to go to a lot of concerts in the past few months: Eric Clapton/Roger Daltry; Willie Nelson; John Mayer; and just last night I stood in the rain for Steve Winwood/Santana. Big big venues, big big crowds. I had tickets to Muse, but it was canceled, no reason given, but I suspect it’s because they’re still not well enough known around here to be able to fill the Sprint Center. All this is by way of saying, that at least here in the middle of the country, it’s not the economy. Great concerts with popular performers are still doing great. I do think it’s this particular Idol tour that is the problem, all by itself.

Elliegrll

I don’t care if they play to 1,000 people or 8,000. IMO, TPTB owe them 50 concert dates. They owe the band and the staff that goes from city to city with them 50 concert dates. They owe the people who do the lighting the sound 50 concert dates. They can afford it.

I think the concerts are being canceled by the promoter, not 19. I don’t know if Live Nation is promoting the entire tour, but they are the ones who are rescheduling dates and canceling shows.

The idol tour has always been about people coming out to see and support the contestants who they grew attached to over the course of the season, so it has never been about the music. I think it just boils down to people not having a connection to these people.

HotHotHot

The idol tour has always been about people coming out to see and support the contestants who they grew attached to over the course of the season, so it has never been about the music. I think it just boils down to people not having a connection to these people.

For me it IS about the music and only Crystal passed that test. No charisma, no stage presence and karioke singing is why this tour is going nowhere. Somewhere along the way, the singing competition got lost and it turned into a popularity contest.

karenc

Crystal tweeted that she thinks they moved the Toledo show to Aug 27. It was originally supposed to be Sept 2nd. I kind of wonder if the last show is going to be Chicago on 8/28 once they finish moving/cancelling the shows.

spritely

Elliegrll

The idol tour has always been about people coming out to see and support the contestants who they grew attached to over the course of the season, so it has never been about the music.

This!Absolutely, at least for a large number of us. It’s why I have only attended one concert, even though I’ve watched the show every season. It’s not the show, it’s not the music. I went to that one show only because I had finally “connected” to a contestant. I wanted to see Cook perform live, after watching his exciting story develop over so much time on tv, and I also wanted to support his career. Couldn’t have cared less about anything else.

idolfan92

All of the previous Idol shows have been at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island – seating capacity 17,760. It sold out in minutes and they always added a second show. This year it’s at a 5,000 seat amphitheatre and there are plenty of good seats left. The show is only 2 days away.

Actually the website for the Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre says it has a seating capacity of 15,000. It’s that new thing, “The Bay Stage” that only holds 5,000. But Nikon is definitely 15,000. And Live Nation only has 1400 tickets left unsold. (Nosebleeds have been reduced to $10…yikes!) I agree though, it says something that they didn’t add a second Long Island show this year.

Laurie

I agree that the singing competiton got lost. But according to the reasons being cited for having poor sales and cancellations, it doesn’t even appear to boil down to a popularity contest this year. Otherwise people would be turning out for their favorite, whether they were the winner or in 10’th place. Nothing could have stopped me from seeing David Cook his year, even if he placed 10’th. And nothing was going to stop the Archies from seeing their favorite Idol. This could be said for many more seasons, and contetstants. I am just citing that season as an example. I guess the interest just isn’t there with these kids. Or as someone above stated, there just wasn’t a connection with this group of singers. I know I felt invested in season 7. The key is the connection and willingness to spend your dollars for the talent on the tour and afterward when the person ventures out on their own. It doesn’t appear that people are as willing to part with their dollars for this group. I can’t imagine what record sales will be.

FolkFan

As I understand it, the contestants get paid per show.

I feel bad for them. Being on Idol is hard, in a lot of ways—it’s a lot of work, you have to stand up there and be criticized on national television, and you could get voted out even if you sang well. Part of the benefit (usually) is the tour—financially, and for folks without a record contract, an opportunity to try to built up some buzz based on your performances.

I do agree that there are a lot of factors at play here—expensive tickets in a bad economy, a season with little buzz and even some negative buzz, etc. But I still feel bad for them.

batgirl478

I WAS excited,now I’m terrified that my concert will be axed!

Me too. My concert is in early August and I know there are still pretty good seats available so I’m worried it will be canceled.

agathe.hb

POOR KIDS, I totally agree, that AI owes them 50 show, no matter what, but they pull all the strings and I don’t expect them willingly parting with more money than necessary…..

Laurie

Awww…I really hope that people are able to see their favorite and not have their particular show cancelled. I would have been devastated if this was happening when I was so invested. Why can’t TPTB just move the “sluggish” cities to even smaller venues and let the people that want to go be able to?! It’s a misfortunate situation for both the contestants and the people that want to attend the show.

emmuzka

As I understand it, the contestants get paid per show.

Does anyone have info on this? Last year, I was told that the contestants would all receive a fixed price of 100,000 for the tour, no matter how many songs you performed or if you had to skip shows for being sick. I don’t know where I heard this, though. And the issue of what would happen if shows would get canceled wasn’t a concern, then.

Ratna12

I think it just boils down to people not having a connection to these people.

Absolutely.
Big mistake not to put them in one house. The audience were missing the footage of them having fun together. How about the lack of group numbers with all the dancing. By mid season, TPTB totally abandoned the group numbers. They are absolutely fun, funny, sometimes stupid, but I believe that the audience love these (at least I do). It is also too bad that AI Extra and Idol Tonight were not there anymore. Those shows also help some audience to get to know the idols.

karenc

I think it just boils down to people not having a connection to these people.

Absolutely.
Big mistake not to put them in one house. The audience were missing the footage of them having fun together. How about the lack of group numbers with all the dancing. By mid season, TPTB totally abandoned the group numbers. They are absolutely fun, funny, sometimes stupid, but I believe that the audience love these (at least I do). It is also too bad that AI Extra and Idol Tonight were not there anymore. Those shows also help some audience to get to know the idols.

I believe Season 8 and Season 1 were the only times that they put the contestants in a house together. They were usually in apartments. At least for Season 8, very little of the footage was used.

I think part of the problem with the connection to the contestants is that there are few introductory segments anymore. That’s when we really get to see the contestants. I don’t think there was as many even last year, and I think it’s because the shows are shortened, and the time for judges comments has increased, so they don’t have as much time for this. The shows were longer at least in season 7 and I think that we really got to know the contestants more, and also they got to do more songs, because I beleive the performance shows were 90 minutes – 2 hours the whole season.

I also missed AI extra and AI tonight. I agree, that was another way that we got to know the contestants more.

Grammie Kari

Absolutely.
Big mistake not to put them in one house. The audience were missing the footage of them having fun together. How about the lack of group numbers with all the dancing. By mid season, TPTB totally abandoned the group numbers. They are absolutely fun, funny, sometimes stupid, but I believe that the audience love these (at least I do). It is also too bad that AI Extra and Idol Tonight were not there anymore. Those shows also help some audience to get to know the idols.

This is so true! I also want the Group Performances to be live! Now, I have connected with Siobhan. However, the lack of support from the Judges zapped her chance to get into the TOP 3. I appreciate all the talents of these Idols. I have seen them perform, and they are good! But Idol management is doing a lousy job promoting them!

How could they cancel Toronto? Why not move to a smaller venue? So many people do wait until the last week to buy tickets. I did.
I feel so sorry for this group. They worked so hard to put on a terrific show. The talent is there – believe me!

THIS IDOL CONCERT IS WORTH ATTENDING! SEVERAL PERFORMANCES ARE EXCITING!!

koshka

By mid season, TPTB totally abandoned the group numbers. They are absolutely fun, funny, sometimes stupid, but I believe that the audience love these (at least I do).

LOL opinions vary. I couldn’t stand those group numbers AT ALL. I saw them and the ford commercials as a time suck on the contestants. I always felt that they needed more practice time and longer songs. But anyway…

koshka

agathe.hb:
07/06/2010 at 12:51 am
POOR KIDS, I totally agree, that AI owes them 50 show, no matter what, but they pull all the strings and I don’t expect them willingly parting with more money than necessary…..

I feel bad for the kids, but AI doesn’t ‘owe’ anybody anything. In the worse case (and one of the silver linings), this is the first reality check for these kids. Its hard to make a living in the music industry. Whats happening is a reflection of what is already happening outside the bubble. I think last year the AI bubble insulated the contestants and selling expectation from how sales were actually progressing.

Elliegrll

Somewhere along the way, the singing competition got lost and it turned into a popularity contest.

It’s always been a popularity contest. It’s about getting people to like you enough to call in and vote for you as often as they can. The show is built on the premise of the cult of personality, which is why the alums have to work so hard to be taken seriously by those in the industry. Since AI is a weekly tv show, that thrives on people being invested enough to tune in every week, it makes sense that people would become overly invested in the performers, and get to the point where the audience believes they know the performers, and where the voting is more about relating to the performers, and not just the music. It was hard to relate to this year’s group, which we could see in the vote totals, which were often half of what they had been at the same time last year.

By mid season, TPTB totally abandoned the group numbers. They are absolutely fun, funny, sometimes stupid, but I believe that the audience love these (at least I do).

This could be seen as another way that tptb took the focus off of the contestants. I hated that they stopped announcing their names one by one before the show, too. Aside from those backstage behind the scenes views, there were not a lot of chances to try and see who they were, or gauge their personalities.

springboard

I think that the format of the show is at odds with reality.
On one hand, we have pop stars whose most important quality is to be sexy, but AI don’t do sexy, they do nice and niceness doesn’t sell in the real world. Then you have the singer-songwriters who don’t need to be sexy in the real world, but charismatic, and that would fit with AI except that the main ingredient, performing their own songs, is missing.
Of course, it’s how it has been done since the beginning and there has been some success, but it may have been more because of the public enthusiasm in participating in the making of a star than because of the discovery of people who are on par with other successful artists. Compared to the AI buzz, they are in fact few and far between, and the buzz is now catching up with reality.

Mary102

Well, as others have said, I think there’s a combination of reasons at play here. The Washington Post just did an article about how so many tours were struggling this season, and that, while the industry predicted this summer would be the bounce back period, that actually hasn’t been the reality. So that’s definitely a part of it.

I think, as with so much in idol-dom, they just didn’t plan well to match the changing circumstances. TPTB basically marketed this season’s tour the same as it has every other season, with the same large venues, same high prices, and expected everything to be a’ok. But, the truth is, $100 a ticket is A LOT to ask for when people aren’t even willing to buy $10 cds from people these days. Add to that the fact that, as concert goers and reviewers have commented (including Brian Mansfield), the crowd this year seems to be much less uber invested in any one or two contestants, and more just casual fans of a lot of the guys.

I don’t know about you, but every time I’ve gone to the tour, I’ve generally only been motivated to do so because I love one of that year’s contestants. That’s the only thing that gets me to spend $100 to see them live, especially after having just spent a whole season watching them for free. It’s only in the context of loving that one person that I then generally go to the tour and decide “oh, wow! These other guys really stepped it up too!” And I’m usually impressed with the overall quality.

Still, though, a ton of casual fans rather than a large number of hugely invested fans will lead to much smaller demand as well. Last year, most fans forked over the money to see Adam, Danny, and Kris live (the others were more peripheral, all in all). S7 most were there for the two Davids, etc. Of course, that’s not the RULE, but just my general sense of it.

Mary102

Too many shows are too close together geographiclly.

Yeah, this definitely isn’t the problem. Last year, there were a TON of shows in the Northeast and midatlantic, and they sold very very well. It all matches the demand, generally. There are fewer west shows, and generally the demand is not as high there, for some reason.

Mary102

Jae:
07/05/2010 at 5:58 pm
Unfortunately I agree with the folks who say the low tour interest has to do with lackluster contestants.

I agree with this as well. I’d like to be all pollyanna about it, but, imo, most of these kids have less ability than your average high school or college glee club singer. They’ve got very limited charisma, and mostly weak voices. Even the best of the bunch are severly lacking in some other capacity. Big Mike has a great voice, but an off-putting, cheesy demeanor that few can really get into. Tim has a terrible voice and is little more than a pretty face and smile, Didi lacks the charisma and excitement of even a Michael Sarver to start the show. Lee, well, I almost feel redundant going into my points against him, but he’s got a weak voice, boring personality, and dull stage presence, all of which make him the worst winner of AI ever.

I’ve gone to three season’s tours so far (only really followed the show in general since S5) – and each brought a lot to the table beyond just the one or two people I was going to see. S5 had lots of talent and variety with Chris, Taylor, Kat, Elliot, Paris, Kellie, etc. S7 had the Davids, Brooke, Michael Johns, Carly, etc being awesome. Last year, it goes without saying ;-), was filled with win. So yeah, this year just really really sucked for talent. I want to be nice to these kids, but, imo, most of them don’t deserve record deals even. There’s just too much talent out there that can outshine this group.

St.Lucia

Too many shows are too close together geographiclly.

I don’t necessarily think that’s really a problem either…in fact I think it would be a bonus. With some concerts I’ve been to if I like it enough and a lot of shows are close to me geographically and I can afford it…I’m going to more!

Most of my favorite bands have concerts that are heavy in the Northeast because people will travel to go see them.

There just wasn’t enough interest drummed up in the contestants by anyone and even the contestants themselves. As I said previously, they are very talented, but boring, boring, boring.

Mary102

Hopefully the problems with the tour will convince TPTB to do some drastic changes to Idol before the next season. I would really like the last year of Idol [which I expect AI10 to be] to be big, bold and focused on talent — not just potential.

This won’t happen. TPTB are to blame for this debacle of a season by trying to perfectly cast a Taylor Swift singer-songwriter guitar playing girl this year. That backfired on them big time. Now they obviously want to get a Bieber type with the lower age limit, and I will say now, WAY before the new season even starts, they will make a mistake again, and it will backfire. Only if they get lucky with a breakout star next year can they redeem themselves and the show, but that would likely be purely accidental.

eta: Even though the AI9 tour is having low turnout, I hope they still pay those kids well. I hope they don’t have to sacrifice earnings because of this

Well, to make you feel better, they are all definitely getting paid much better, even with the cancelled shows, than they would without the tour or AI. Didn’t Sarver wind up making like $100,000 from last year’s tour, and he got the lowest per-concert fee. So, yeah, they are all doing ok.

And seasons 5, 7 and 8 had fanbases devoted enough to go to all six shows! I know that fans of Kris, Adam, Danny and Matt went to multiple shows last year. I don’t hear of people going to more than one show this year.

Yep. I paid well over face value last year, and went to 3 shows (would have gone to more except for stupid work :-( ) A friend (huge Matt fan) went to 10, and I knew many people like that. That’s what really loving these guys, especially right off the show, does to the summer tour. Us AI fans can be a little fanatical sometimes ;-)

mmb

I don’t necessarily think that the S9 kids lacked talent, and I would expect that all of them will be better and more engaging on tour than on the show (it is almost always that way)…but there is a difference between having talent and being a viable commercial artist and being a good reality singing competition contestant….J-Hud is a terrific talent and a success story, but she was not a good AI contestant….Taylor hicks was a terrific AI contestant (and we can quibble over his post-idol success – he has a music career, so i would say that is a success/others would say he is a failure because he is not a pop radio star)….who knows which of the S9 kids will do well in the real world, if any? the problem right now is that they were not compelling enough reality show contestants to get people to want to pay money to see them on tour this summer singing cover songs….I’m tellin you, as Maine goes so goes the nation….if the Portland Maine show gets cancelled, that is just not good

Why? AI set up 50 shows. AI is having these Idols go on local broadcasts to drum up traffic and sales — so the promotion has been there. However, the market has not responded. For whatever reason, these kids have not connected or resonated enough for people to spend money on them — first with iTunes sales and now with tickets.

tinawina

On one hand, we have pop stars whose most important quality is to be sexy, but AI don’t do sexy, they do nice and niceness doesn’t sell in the real world. Then you have the singer-songwriters who don’t need to be sexy in the real world, but charismatic, and that would fit with AI except that the main ingredient, performing their own songs, is missing.

This is true.

I don’t necessarily think that the S9 kids lacked talent, and I would expect that all of them will be better and more engaging on tour than on the show (it is almost always that way)…but there is a difference between having talent and being a viable commercial artist and being a good reality singing competition contestant….J-Hud is a terrific talent and a success story, but she was not a good AI contestant….Taylor hicks was a terrific AI contestant (and we can quibble over his post-idol success – he has a music career, so i would say that is a success/others would say he is a failure because he is not a pop radio star)….who knows which of the S9 kids will do well in the real world, if any? the problem right now is that they were not compelling enough reality show contestants to get people to want to pay money to see them on tour this summer singing cover songs…

So is this IMO.

The S9 crew is talented, but didn’t necessarily make good teevee. They may find a slot in the music business however.

Like folkfan, I do feel bad for them right now. This is supposed to be the good part. And while I am sure they are enjoying it, they also must know how they are doing compared to years past and the negative chatter that comes with that reality.

Nina1

It was Idol’s job to create compelling television. It didn’t, and ratings and the tour are suffering for it. I don’t think these contestants can be blamed for the season; choosing,forwarding and pimping candidates for the show simply isn’t their job. Idol failed both the viewer and the contestant. People go to the tour more because of an emotional investement in the talent than the degree of talent and this year that investment is missing.

Idol simply forgot to try to get the viewer attached to the performers. The only backstory came from the birth of Michael Lynche’s child and he didn’t even go into labor. Among those of us who did, that story wasn’t made of win. I don’t believe the majority of Idol contestants are intrinsically interesting: it is the show’s job to make them interesting and to make us care about them, when they are not savvy enough to do it themselves (per Taylor Hicks). Idol blew the time for character development, real or created, on judges, one of whom wasn’t even engaged enough to watch the talent perform.

Idol forgot what made it work. And it forgot it after one sensational unmatchable season, in the middle of what appears to be a double dip recession. Some Idol seasons will always be better than others, but there really is no excuse for lack of audience “connection,” which the franchise is responsible for and develops through the course of the show. After the talent load of last season, this season was fated to be a difficult one, but talent has less to do with the outcome than diversity, producer laziness, narrow stale music options, judge self-indulgence, and lack of decent storytelling.

TLKC

I tuned out the night Michael went home. I like Crystal and Casey very much but I just didn’t care. I didn’t think Michael should win, I just couldn’t get into the fact that nobody left wanted it anywhere nearly as much as he did. Didn’t watch the last two shows.

There’s something wrong when I want a person to win more than he/she does.

I only started watching in season 7; I saw all of season 8 (even the early Tatiana days.) I tuned in to season 8 because, in season 7, I saw a whole bunch of people who wanted it really badly and brought their best show every night. Ditto for season 8.

In season 7 Archie brought his best from day one and forced everyone to do the same. In season 8 Adam brought his A game right out of the gate and everyone had to do the same.

The winners in both seasons won because they rose to the challenge. It was exciting every night.

In season 9, Crystal was sick for the first couple of weeks, Casey was not familiar with the show (very sweetly did it for his mother) and Lee clearly left at least one good song on the table until later (as per Andy Garcia) because he could tell that he didn’t need to push himself.

No one threw down the gauntlet. So no one picked it up.

Nina1

Now they obviously want to get a Bieber type with the lower age limit, and I will say now, WAY before the new season even starts, they will make a mistake again, and it will backfire.

Absolutely. Idol also doesn’t seem to be able to make up its mind who its audience is.

ibhde10

THIS IDOL CONCERT IS WORTH ATTENDING! SEVERAL PERFORMANCES ARE EXCITING!!

I have to wonder because if the performances were exciting and the concert was exciting then people would be talking about it.
And if people were talking about it wouldn’t there be more than 32 comments in last nights concert thread?32 comments?
That’s just embarrassing.

Jx223

The AI Now blog is now reporting that the Buffalo concert has been cancelled:

There’s something wrong when I want a person to win more than he/she does.

^^THIS times a million! OMG. I’m sure they wanted it (maybe), but every week looked like a freaking funeral with them, rather than the most exciting, energizing time of their life! None of them stepped it up, and by the end, none of them deserved the title. Chrystal was mad talented, but never really stepped it up or showed that she wanted it when it really mattered. Lee had more off days (especially the finale week) than on days. And then Casey was practically sleepwalking through every freaking song choice and performance. I just didn’t even want them to win because THEY didn’t want to win.

In years past, you always had a great, though friendly, sense of competition going on. S7 and S8 really captured that well. S5 as well (s6 will always be another blah year for me, though not as bad as S9).

Nina1

I just didn’t even want them to win because THEY didn’t want to win.

Hmmmm. You don’t think this may have to do with, in recent years, contestants not having to win to get signed???? And, maybe, the burden of being the winner?

Kate8

I feel bad for the season 9 contestants too. I feel the economy, the aging of AI(9 seasons usually shows decline in ratings after 4 or 5 years or so). After watching the show since season 6 for me also who wins is just getting very predictable.The last 3 seasons it has been a WGWG who already has a self produced or indie album out that their fans rave about. Did any of the previous winners Season 1-6 already have CDs out that the fans discussed alot during their season.

TLKC

The tour’s problems are partly economic and partly the failure of the season to ignite interest.

I believe that Idol has taken away all the wrong lessons from this season. It sounds like they are going the multiple judges route again. IMO the multiple judges in the early rounds distracted the attention of the fans and the regular judges from the contestants.

It also ensured that Ellen, in particular, was as unacquainted with the competitors as we were when the season began. Understand that Ellen was cast late in the game and had prior commitments but this should not be the route for introducing Simon’s replacement.

Tim’s success has also prompted them drop the average age of entry. Enough has been said about the problems with that so I won’t be-labour the point. Plus Idol can’t hope to compete with Disney at that game. Plus what happens if they choose a guy whose voice changes within the year a-la-Justin Bieber? Okay, be-labouring a bit.

I missed the house environment this year but do appreciate that, with several people having children and Aaron being under-age, it was a logistical challenge.

tinawina

s6 will always be another blah year for me, though not as bad as S9

Jordin was one of the most ambitious people ever on that show to me. She was sweet and bubbly but that girl wanted to win. Badly. Plus there was vocally thrilling Melinda and the unpredictable Blake. That season gets beat up more than it should to me.

I wonder how many shows they will end up canceling? It’s usually 50 right? Do y’all think it will hold to, say, 35?

Eriko

Opps

TLKC

MARY102:

Ditto. And you’re making me sorry I didn’t see earlier seasons, espcially AI5 which sounds like a great group from what I’ve heard online.

NINA1: that’s a good point. Plus this year it looks like quite a few of this year’s contestants are going to get a single. Maybe KESHA’s success with TIK TOK has made it look like a plan with big potential return on investment but it further reduces the competitive element.

St.Lucia

I wonder how many shows they will end up canceling? It’s usually 50 right? Do y’all think it will hold to, say, 35?

The way it seems I’m betting they’re trying to finish up in August so between canceling/rescheduling whatever they can do to get finished as quick as possible.

tinawina

The way it seems I’m betting they’re trying to finish up in August so between canceling/rescheduling whatever they can do to get finished as quick as possible.

Yeah, it does seem like its the ones at the end that are dropping like flies. I guess that is better for Crystal and Lee.

This might be a good year to try the EP thing instead of a full album, the way things are going. Do a Beiber.

windmills

After the tour is going to be a real test for Lee, Crystal, and whoever else gets signed as far as how bad they want it. Even before this we knew they had smaller AI fanbases than people from the last couple of seasons have had and arguably the smallest fanbases of any AI season ever so they’ll have to work to gain more fans outside AI. They won’t be handed good buzz and especially in the pop world they’re going to be saddled with the buzz of S9 being the worst season ever. Making a real impression in the music world after this is going to be tough.

Maybe the “easiest” way to do it will be to really convince people that the format of the show held you back but for that to work they’ll have to really convince people there’s more to them. That starts with the tour but even more so that’ll be through their original music. I have the feeling Casey’s been playing that game somewhat by emphasizing how thrilled he is to be doing full songs and how everybody’s finally getting to sing whatever they want. I haven’t seen any media reviews that indicate anybody’s totally blown away by anybody’s performances on the tour yet though.

I just have this feeling that succeeding off this season of AI is going to mean distancing yourself from it somewhat and that in and of itself will create tension.

Hmmmm. You don’t think this may have to do with, in recent years, contestants not having to win to get signed???? And, maybe, the burden of being the winner?

Possibly. But, even still, you want to be on as long as possible (what Adam said, about getting maximum exposure, but not necessarily needing the win), and you want to win over as many fans as possible. And that means bringing it week after week. As someone who is in the music biz, I know how you have to live, breath and eat music 24/7 to really make it. It is NOT easy, not by a long shot. If I don’t see that oozing out of the contestants, I don’t really care about them on or off the show, it’s as simple as that.

Mary102

I believe that Idol has taken away all the wrong lessons from this season. It sounds like they are going the multiple judges route again. IMO the multiple judges in the early rounds distracted the attention of the fans and the regular judges from the contestants.

So true. As someone who has loved this show for so many years, it’s sort of like watching someone you love self-destruct before your eyes. Every sign we’ve received so far has shown that, rather than learning from their mistakes, they really are repeating them, or even making things worse. The rotating 4th judge thing (which I think WILL wind up being the reality), will only make things more painful next year, I fear.

Nina1

Making a real impression in the music world after this is going to be tough.

Yep. But one stellar album would set them right up!

sr4mjc

Yep. But one stellar album would set them right up!

A rushed Idol album? I think the first albums all we can hope for is something good. But something to a real musical impression? If Idol audiences aren’t interested, it’s 10x the uphill battle to make non-idol watchers take notice. This gang could barely make covers unique, I’m not going to hold my breath.